(man) two, three, four... one, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight, nine... after much arguing, the iraqi authorities have just agreed to alw us tgo mucnearer tthe city of, what iin effec the aqi fronine onhis sidef the shatt alrab rive wee now inhe stree of desertetown, therdoesn'seem to ju besidthanybody hereinshots

t the's a loof sml arms fe very nr. re smallrms fire snip fire crkling t the's a loof across t river fm my rht. the are l depots blowinup. athe moment. exosions tndering away au. (sho) a rock-propell grenade (me shot(elosion)sns) i'm gin. wellat lst now tt areth know wee here. es -(her ma proof. (man) jes. back or here ihink,around ts w. let's wo(sho)wayp. keepour hes down. ey can s you frothe otr si(elosions)r. co on, wre getti out! the otheway arou, let's ! (m) all tother, go ther mrun!un! run!de. other ma jesus. -(man)u. i thinthey can see usunning aun. -(her man)eah. ay, thers our drer!

're just tryg to getack to the c and g to safe. wee near. we're ivg... we' driving away we r. as long we keepoing fas we suld be aight. this i, middle et corresndent of the ldon time.. repoing fromarely 20yard fromhe irani hill ci of adan. alm musibegins)

(rober this ames me because is is... 's stilllive but it'still dea, isn't ? meanthere's simply nody he. it is utterlybandoned plac. and ere's thing. it's lefexactly it was.? if youook downsome of e, the barrades aretill the. ilo at th one, foexample. when t final btles toosome of e, plachere whethe syri army werepening uthis road, is nobeen toued sincehen. 's like. you uld brina hollywd crew over andake movie here, onlyhe dead n't lk orhe livinare all ne. (musiconties) (robert)he firstime i we throh those ng milesnd mis of ruinestreets tside ho, i can't thinof wheren earth he where dithey go ?

d tth they'ren greece you kn, or hgary. ormany..ro. thiss where ey came om. this is e beginng of the storym europe. buthis ithe begiing, th is wherthe matcwas lit. tal, absole destruion. u, you qstion thcapacity of hu. and wonder, some wa, whher the hes of cies... e constaly recreing what'sappened storical for hundass.f year in hisrd and it cruel a unfai bui think at somewre inhe soul human bngs... the is somhing tre th within permit ese do wpermit tm becausin so way theseem natal...

at d i do n know the aner . abouui ink abouit.this? (male st) our est toda whis the middleast rrespondt for th indendent nepaper. he holds me britisand ternatiol jourlism awas than anyther reign coesponden (will be miliar wh the life and work of robert fisk. the many armed conflicts he has reported on, and his unwavering voice in the middle east. (male host 2) as you know, robert's work is always well researched and of the people. it is regularly contrarian and controversial. (male host 3) robert fisk has been reporting

from the middle east with incomparable depth and understanding... (music begins) and also extraordinary courage. (female host 2) as we turn to robert fisk, he's beereportin fr the mide east, whethein afghastan or iran, ld rritorie (mic intenfies) yearfter y yping sods (music es) obert) f the momt, wee going the in intertional hhway ias f as homse can goaleppo.. d then wturn off whh is the citwhich yo can siest geinto therea of the idlib battlefie. wednesy nigh i'veot to wre my coln

for the dependen which ns on thsday... and e questi is whetr torrow we e enough of froline southeridlib ovince. get me a good ontline ece, rian armin sight of theare gime in lib... because at's whe the las battle is pposed tbe. riarel fighteght of theare fromhe free rian arm who oppo the govnment bha eassad are praring fobattle the pronce of iib, the st remaing militt and terr. (male porter) is last ttle r syria reatens the st remaing militt and terr. humanitaan catasophe (lowck) the rst humanitari catasophe on greatercale thaany seenin sef (male porter) is last ttle r syrghting.ens th the bgest losof lifef the 21 century the syri army wamassing aroundf (robert)lthislamisteadnes, the rians anthe ssiansad sa "we're ing to aack." natol of whi might g well havhappened.s,

and i heed therend thoug, i nt to ha a looat this. -(robe) good tsee you ain. man) welme. (robt) tha. (yar you wilmeet wi the comnder othe curity cmittee iidlib. (rober where ihe? -(yaraabout onhour... -(robe) ? (rober where ihe? okay, th'sine. -(y(rober well, wre closerobe) ? (rober where ihe? -to ji al-shugr. okay, -(ra) yes. (ya) we will see t area that thermy contls. obert) tt was boed 's what asked foyesterdaelle ar. obert) vergood. (s music bins) (bridier talng) ara) thitown is.

is nusrasyrian aqaeda] in the tn? (robt) when d these ns la fire? ra askinbrigadier yara) toy mornin -(robe) today? we wershellingecause ty atcked ourosition th rocks. (robt) it's serted, ere's trafficn the ros, nothg. yara aing genel (yara) t generalaid at beforthe operion... obert) noby there. -(bert) goout. kneallyara) ye.e.ion, (bridier) evy town ithe untains held byl-nusra. a ont call 'theuardiansf religi' join al-nusrsix mont ago. untains held byl-nusra. anthere arfactio beloing tol-qaeda. (brigaer talki) (yara)e are ve close to theurki. -(robe) eight les so? yara) fieen. rigadier) ishere anylace se you wt to see (robert)nything re i casee, plee, if...

(yara) i't there hot spo or attks here? (brigat but we he a ceasire no (brigaer talki) ara) we are in daerous ar. all ofhe hillsround usre unr the corol of anusra. maybe th wiite, yests. riga(robert)hey tried to des. to bw it up. andbut noenoughdownratherh. bring the bridgdown. this is fronhurrup! stopng heres not a od idea. ad music -(bradier) hry up! -(brigadr 2) comon! speeup throu here! now we a beside koaa. so hurryp! -(brigadr) here e militas! -(igadier snipers (rober here wee on a b ofrontli road.

the rian gunare in firi over ouheads to moun. l the his aroundere whicishere al-sra opsition aed group arwe gonnaear more. if they'(explosi)t back, that an explion. th's not gun fing. it camfrom ovethere. (anoer exploon) that's sian artiery ring outover the hills, (anoer exploon) th army s not mod rward inhe last o yes. i wahere t yearsgo, 're in ectly e same le as thewere. maybe ere will ba battle aft) (roberars are dgy thin to predt. e the syans goin to pour rth fromhe basin whh has lo been thdumping gr, to the pvince idlib.. for nua fighte and isi..

and thother jidis whh has lo been thdumping gr, to tho refuseto give . when ty evacuad thbig syri cities? ishis really abo to be t th its oldtone hous and the greedrift ofhe oront,idea ts is auofhe syriawar site ems straely out place.e (typg soundsnd sad mic) (robert)hen i waa little boy, s that... i becameascinate by t idea ofecordinghings i remeabt the grt war,ad tathe seco world w...d i greup knowi the htory the 20tcentury inani rememb when i shic has abt twelveears olde.

(int music pys) in feign corspondent fohunty havetock... a fakeame like lot d in tho days. was se off to ver the outbre or war. you'veuessed tt i'm foe you? tt's ni!. (robert)e watchea dutch diplom n sterdam, ased bthe gean secret police acrs hollan n the mo beautiful wom pocin t movie, and rvived tsend a gat scpand thought myself,e my gos york citent, adnture, reportin scoops,eautiful women! is sounds like t job for m i nted to be aeporter or , preferably a foreign correspondent... and my parents wanted me to go into one of the professions. you know, a lawyer, doctor. but i wanted to be a reporter. oh hello, it's bob fisk on the times here. o men ha been sh in rhlin strt. a gunm got o and spred the two men th automic gfire

i s almostmmediately a rrese to belft.me, parentstarted talking out, i s almostmmediately "o boy wor for theimes." e times s almost a profsi. "hworks r the tis." we're ar divis streetow... one scenof the great bales of t yearsgo. ey shot om the t of t tower. one scenof the great bales of t yearsgo. d the ar have a st just behg eyand th pla used to flyith bulls. ere you uld sit a sid stre and wat a gunattle the ltake pla.the wod belfast d a greainfluencin praring meor the mdle st... particarly whei found at thbritish my were lling innocent.. and atne pointrossingthe ir. and i okmy ay,stories aturned agast me. afr investating enoughtories, i dinot beeve the my haa monopo on trut.. and th started problel beuse i wa't onsid i shoulde on theide of the autrities.

i've beehere ree yes now an onat the very ginninhat ones s nsitiviof sing...s on "i mus't be bied or bseen to gle this against thols orgainstrotestan at you aost comeut in hing no etions... thatsn't cpletely ue. i meani can thk of rticularoments wn i have felt. thatsn't cpletely ue. i member wn a bombent off ople in at bus stion habeen blo to piec. anthis isn a nice descr ju a piecef someons body ing acro the fireman hose. and i memberhe firem whwas stding the, trng to puout the re... just fl onto t groun on hisnees andtarted cing. kning it w the irane coul't help t think,hey'reike t, stards. anone is aected bymotion.

(rober i want to getver as cse as poible where iib pronce is. (rober i want to getver idlib ia big bale the ly way o is intourkey, and th the b i wa to setoday. (bridier) guys. s fine, is is a ws crew whi. (guardalking) s fii'brigadieyounisrew whi. fromhe secury commite acmpanyinghem. s f(gua) and whis he?ew whi. fthe brish jourlistte arobert fk.em. -and his cre -(gud) i neeinformatn. we he an appval. sh him. (robert)'ve got very fortinhat i'm thn a reet rorter, i'm the froline of rs, i see thwar, (robert)'ve got very most colnists li in w york olondon oparis.. wh i've hathe greafortune of e mosteporters can't c. me. when i wte a sers of aicles abt syria,

i' just me fro the rian froline. m not cording at someo said, reporti what saw on wh i went to idlib provin all my cleagues re sayin "idlibattle abt to beg"... t in thatrip i dn't seenother jrnalist. i didn'tven e ifou don'to to thecene a rud sniff nalist d talk tthe peop and e with yr own ey yocannot g near what theruth is. (brigaer) snip fire? did yosee them (robt) i feel, eecially in, when slittle iproved d so lite checkeout (robt) i feel, eecially in, th there'sore reas to do e old ki of jourlism when slittle iproved 's just valuableoday thatand ast alwaysas.!t. (pple talkg syrian syri guns. eople taing) fired a ng time ag

(people lking) emale rerter) thpeople of idlibre facin an immint milita offensi, anthey're eparing r the worst. than anyrevious ttle in this, u (un spesman)e could e a ttgeneration. (reporr) meahile, damascusaintains that t much-ancipated offc hasn startedet. acrding toyewitness, reforcemen from thsyrian army (yara) t(brigaer) yeahad tohe front (robert)irtuallyvery road oukirtswee been oonce. sie we lefthe turkh border on n

all thway arou idlib up to alpo, on mitary ros which none else n travelnr on n exce the arm and weaven't sn e reinfoements. and is is suosed to which none else n travelnr on n the biest batt ever. the st battl of the syriawar. i'm at the momt tryingo wo out at artic i'm goi to ha i been oled? did i selots andots of soldiersho weren tre, or were the? i'veot to sa "look, the one the proems i thk isfind i. that peoe hereave idea what th inteational mmunity is sing out the catastphe to ce. and mo of the ople outsidesyria. d the uns sayingt, ey don'tave muchdea ofhat's haening he. theyouldn't lieve at we'veone all is journ buwe sure ven't. we reallhaven't en it.. (night sounds)

(robert and soiers talng) (robt) whei first t a letterrom then edor, louiheren,rom thtimes, i was in portugal for the aftermath of the revolution, he offered me the middle east. i felt like an arab king being offered a country by churchill. and he said, "it would be a great adventure with lots of sunshine." lots of sunshine! god, he's right about that. lawrence of arabia called sunshine a sword and he's about right mid-suer in thgulf. (pple taing)

thand i ow that en i filand wrim sty it's going to berinted. and for l i knowrupert murdoch y have cven hoov but when i jned the mest e printedhat i wre fairly changed,ntouched then murdoch came and took the times over. he promised he would make no changes at all, have no influence on editorial policy. of course he did. and headlines would suddenly take a very right-wing view of what i was writing about even contradicting what i was actually saying in my copy. and th we reacd wh ihad ot down an inianutwhy as civilianassengerircraft inead, theran a totally unue editorial sang that e pilot ied carry o a suici attack othamericanpanickednd, sh down annnocent rcraft.

(soldierwe got i guys! at was dd on! and my reaion wa if u have trisk youlife inthe mi, fothis pap, the tis ansuddenlyhey woul't run d ris story.fe editors have to berave inondon and and up to the owners of newspapers and my editor failed to do so. and i thought that it was a disgrace for me to continue to work for that paper. and that's when i decidei'd ve to goo the independent. thindepeent was unded,rk fectivel to takever. the dependen of the ess fr the murch empir of this worl. (mus plays) thindepeent was unded,rk fectivel to takever. t(rorter) aer 30 yes,ss brish newspaper, fr the murch empir of this worl.

e indepeent, istopping e presse eand now onlavailabl to an line rearship. the indendent ishe first natiok to movto an enrely digil model. wee just stching o focus the. to a digal futur we've got millions of daily readers. d we're nna focuon the llions tt read udigitall eporte can new orgazations,uch as t indendent, survivthe trantion om papero pixels can seris inveigativejournal wod? ly te wi tell. (plpe talkg)

(teach) every udent in this om and whatetter spker to ce ta to you ys than meone is sdying modern mdle eastistory wfothe past0 years. written out the ddle eas mr. fi once sa that journalis must cllenge politicis lead uinto warally whd and day is rlly a conversaon betwe the you here ilebano oufuture, and thpr. so welme, mr. sk! thanyou veryuch. i ca here wh i was 2 i'veot the se job, t same plac. differt newspar, ightly dferent sary, i'vby sying her with lame plac. the oblems a all the effects having long perd, 40 yearsave taug me a t about is regio effects having long perd, d it's sce sykesicot, i ink, that thiregion h endured the we of anyart of the wld th i can tnk of.

during t first wld wared the we kes and cot, the brish and ench dipmats andaloly made eir secret aeement tcarve upthe mid. and ith followethat waratswe thd andaloly made eir the bords of rthern iland, prlem. yugoavia, oblem. anwhenev we wante promotereedom a democra.d i n'e we aays arri with and i dot thinthere shld allbe single stern soier inhe middleast beuse it's your untries. st of thpeople in this gion, are slims anthey ey stillelieve igod. and d governthe way ey tr a way tt the weeir has mpletelyost th faith. whatou've go in t middle st is a pple whactuallyelieve in the wd of godimself who are minatedand opprsed cult, politilly, is a pple whactuallyelieve in tonomical, militaly,

by a pple whhave laely lostheir fai. hoand why d that hpen? and i han't the ightest ea anay, sincmy newsperen is tning inta websitt. let's e what hpens the iependent am still e ddle easren is tncorrpondent.sitt. lon tt note, you beer shoott m. the iependent (applause, calmusic) lon tt note, you beer shoott m. god,ou're l tallerhan me.that'. the iependent (stunts talkg) -tay is th23 -ofe20.ary eople taing) -taome word3 -(rort) whathould i ite? (rert) thas okay. (people lking)(woman) where a u ing to lve your pers anyour diaes wn youfinally w

i'm stl workinat the ment, stl a fullime corrpondent. if i end udeciding to wri poetry the garn, en i'lstart thinkingbout tha strenoises (rert) t greatt thing i've had going for me as a journalist has be the lenh of tim i'veeen in t middle st. fr the a of 29 uto now. teakete whistlh of tim in o wayi've i'veeebe very luy.e st. ve few joualists ve had t good foune live th length time, throh the whe period. (calm muc begins

i member, was qui an iortant ment in '. evy westerr had eier beenelkid and i deded to y and ha on. and i lked outf the ap burt and thought,y god, ie been here nowrom '7to '86, n "iyou goo eastereuropeeeditor, you n becomeoliticalditor anat's t way become editor. ani said, don't nt to come an itor! don't wa to go and liven londonr. anlive in irut.t nt tis is myome."r! i'married a journist, l we do t same jot. i love rorting and i lo writing car honk

roughoutll the te i' been inhe middleast i can fuy undersnd the fy and ger at t colonl world, roughoutll the te which i iginallyome from wi our wonrful wesrn thesciee and cilizatithem foreign rrespondt to sav is ridicanybyowada. i dot a toxplaino the pele owho ad what e writes the realy of theorld in which eg and at's whai try too. (rorter) se criticsay you'veived tooong the mide east. if y haven'teen ther yodon't kn theituation if y've beenhere lonr ey say, "you've en thereoo long. cuse me,he longeyou're there, t more yolearn. (reporr) why dyou ay theren beirut (robert) spose becse veri the mide easts a t like rding a gat novel